Vamos family papers

Arthur Vamos (born Artur Vámos, 1911-2006) was born on 19 February 1911 in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) to Ludwig and Emma (née Fuchs, b. 1887) Vamos. He had one brother, Erwin (b. 1917), and one sister, Edith (b. 1918). His family owned a spice business called Vámos Lajos and Co. where Arthur worked as a salesman.

He was in Dresden during Kristallnacht in 1938, and returned home immediately to learn that family and friends had been arrested. Arthur was staying with his non-Jewish girlfriend, Gisele, when he received a letter from the Gestapo ordering him to turn himself in. He did so and was released on the condition that he would leave the country. Arthur began to search for ways to emigrate. His relationship with Gisele had ended, and he began dating Ruth Haack. He was able to secure a transit-visa to Shanghai, but was not able to afford passage despite financial assistance from Ruth’s family. Through a friend’s connections, he contacted Moray Glasser in Glasgow, Scotland, a man who was a victim of anti-Semitism in Russia and was helping Jews in Europe escape to the United Kingdom. Through him, Arthur secured a manufacturing job in Glasgow. He traveled to Glasgow in April 1939 and Ruth, now his fiancé, followed a few weeks later.

In Glasgow, Arthur and Ruth married, and their daughter Maureen (now Maureen Vamos Lighthall) was born in 1941. Arthur’s manufacturing job did not work out, but he found work for a tailor. After England declared war on Germany, Arthur was arrested as an enemy alien and sent to an internment camp. He was granted release upon the condition of joining the British Army. Ruth and Maureen followed Arthur to his different posts, but by 1944 had settled in Calne while he was overseas. Arthur was discharged from the Army in 1946, and the family immigrated to the United States on 1 November 1946. They settled in Chicago.

Arthur’s family all perished during the Holocaust. His mother, Emma, was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1942 and later sent to the Treblinka concentration camp where she perished.

Ruth Vamos (born Ruth Haack, 1913-2003) was born on 8 February 1913 in Liegnitz, Germany (now Legnica, Poland) to Maximillian Erherd August Haack (1867-1979) and Else Haack (née Wieland, d. 1959). Max was Catholic and Else was Jewish. They married in 1911. Ruth had one sister, Annelise (Ann Fox). Ruth went to art school, and worked as a window dresser for a department store in Breslau. She met Arthur through mutual friends.

In 1944, Max, who worked in various government agencies, was told that he would have to divorce Else. He refused and in October 1944 he was deported to Blankenburg and Hedersleben (likely Harzungen) subcamps of Mittelbau-Dora. He broke his back while in Blankenburg, which caused injuries for the rest of his life. After Max was deported, Else went into hiding and survived the war, but nearly went blind. Max was liberated on 11 April 1945 by the United States Army, and he and Else were reunited on 15 May 1945. They moved to a displaced persons camp in 1946, and immigrated to the United States in 1947.